Guatemalan police confirmed Sunday that a Japanese man and a local tour-bus driver were killed Saturday in the Central American country when villagers attacked a Japanese tour group after rumors spread that foreigners were in the area to abduct children.
The Japanese victim was Tetsuo Yamahiro, 39, a real estate company employee from Yono, Saitama Prefecture, police said. The bus driver was Edgar Castellanos, 39, according to local media reports.
Two other tourists -- 67-year-old Takashi Esashika from Tokyo and 37-year-old Kumiko Ueda from Kanagawa Prefecture -- suffered bruises in the attack, which occurred Saturday morning in the village of Todos Santos Cuchumatan, some 150 km northwest of Guatemala City.
Three other Japanese sustained minor injuries from glass when the windows of their buses were smashed in the attack, police said, adding that two policemen were injured while attempting to control the mob.